


Chase Down the Trash Day

by Waldo



Category: Torchwood
Genre: Camping, Established Relationship, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, top!Ianto
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-09-07
Updated: 2008-09-07
Packaged: 2017-10-05 11:23:43
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/41237
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Waldo/pseuds/Waldo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jack manages to make camping romantic, but then it all goes downhill from there.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Chase Down the Trash Day

**Author's Note:**

> For those of you who had to hear me whine in mid-July about OMG!Must finish exchange thing while traveling!...  This is that story.  I worked in as many parts of Agentmonk's prompt as I could: camping, NC-17, Top Ianto and H/C and, as you might have guessed by the 12,000 words, something like a plot and not just a PWP. Title is a play on the _West Wing_ episode "Take Out the Trash Day".  Like a dork, I referenced another one of my own stories in this one.  Not the best idea ever in an anonymous exchange.  Oops.  But the reference to 'the last time they went camping' was to my story "Rarely Pure and Never Simple".

Tosh's glasses hit the cluttered workspace with a clack. Tosh scrubbed her eyes and hoped that when she opened them, what she saw on the screen would make more sense.

No such luck. She turned on another monitor and sent some of the data to that side and looked back and forth between the screens, hoping that bigger would equal more logical.

After another hour and a half of manipulating the information she was getting from the Rift detector it did. Mostly.

"Jack?" she hollered from her seat, too tired to actually get up and report to her boss.

Jack came loping out of his office, a piece of alien tech in his hands that was in several pieces. They had reduced the options of what it could be to either a piece of medical equipment that was broken or a child's toy. "What's up?"

Tosh sighed and angled one of the screens so it would be easier for him to see. "We have about thirty-six separate Rift signals."

Suddenly Owen, Gwen and Ianto dashed over to her station. "Thirty-six?" Owen repeated. "We have thirty-six aliens descending on Cardiff right now?"

Tosh shook her head. "I'm not getting life signs. I am getting some technology signs. I've followed a few of them on CCTV and they don't look like much." A smaller window appeared on the screen under the map of Wales. "I know this sounds stupid, but my first reaction was that someone dumped their trash into the Rift."

"Oh, lovely," Owen opined. "We're about to get two tons of space garbage dumped on us."

"Not on us," Tosh replied, her fingers dancing over the keys again. "When I first started here, a little over four years ago, most of the things that fell through the Rift ended up right here in the Plass. Then they started spreading out through Cardiff. Last year we started noticing a number of things popping up in Newport and Swansea and places like that."

"There was that lovely little fuzzy bastard that turned up in Hay-on-Wye a few months ago," Jack put in sourly.

"You're still bitter because it bit you and you glowed for three days afterwards," Ianto chided.

"_You're_ just gloating because you figured out that it was the color of the walls in the vaults that made it so violent. By the way, someone really needs to paint it back to something a little more neutral. I don't imagine that the next Weevil we have to shove in there will like living in a lavender cell." Jack crossed his arms and glared at Ianto. He still had no idea how Ianto had figured out the little critter's problem and no amount of threatening or pleading had convinced him to tell.

"And now," Tosh cut in abruptly, the Rift is really spreading out. And it's split. About twenty of the pieces with enough Rift energy for me to track spread themselves out between Ffest… Ffesten…" Tosh tripped over the difficult Welsh name until Gwen took pity on her and gave her the pronunciation. "Fehst-in-ee-og," Tosh repeated slowly. "Right, so, up between Ffestiniog and Bangor up in and near Snowdonia National Park and the others are between Bristol and Reading."

"Nothing like making a needle-in-a-haystack hunt a little more difficult by making the haystack about twenty five miles long and about a hundred and fifty or so miles away." Owen glared at the Rift generator in the middle of the Hub. "I tell you this Rift in time and space is really getting to be a right pain in the arse."

"Any indication that anything out there is dangerous?" Jack asked.

"No, like I said, I think it's trash, but who knows what they throw out on other worlds. What if someone threw out … a Blackberry phone today and it landed back in, oh, I don't know, the year twelve hundred? It technically wouldn't harm anyone, but it would freak them out pretty good." Tosh picked her glasses back up and chewed on the earpiece.

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking," Jack said as he leaned over Tosh's shoulder and began sending data hither and yon. "How long do we have to track all this down before the Rift energy wears off?" he asked as he worked.

"A week, ten days on the outside," Tosh said, trying to lean back in her chair to stay out of Jack's way.

"Excellent. Tosh, you'll stay here to coordinate. The rest of us will split up and chase down the Rift trash," he finished typing with a flourish and stood back up.

Owen half raised a hand, as if trying to get Jack's attention. "If it's all the same to everyone," he started with a glance around to see if anyone was going realize that he was claim-jumping and object. "I mean, if no one minds, might I be on the team going to Bristol and Reading?"

"Not fond of Welsh National Parks, Owen?" Jack teased.

"No, I was just thinking. If you keep going up past Reading an hour or so you're in London. I figured if nothing had to be rushed straight back here… hit a few clubs, maybe see if there's a football match?" Owen had the grace to look sheepish, as if he knew he was angling for the posher assignment.

Jack rolled his eyes. "Fine. It makes sense given that you're the closest we're going to get to sending a local anyway. In that vein, I'll take Ianto up to Snodonia with me. Which means: Gwen, you're with Owen. Now, given that we're the ones driving through the mountains and staying in the great back of beyond, we get the SUV. So sort out whose car the two of you are taking and have Ianto issue what ever kit you're going to need."

"Kit? I was thinking we'd stay in B and Bs or motels while we trace down a great pile of space rubbish. We're going to be between Bristol and Reading not out in the middle of the fucking…" he trailed off before he found himself exactly where he didn't want to be. "Wilderness," he finished lamely.

Jack shook his head. "Keep receipts, and take the kit anyway, just in case."

Owen gave Jack a mock salute before going off to pack up what he and Gwen would need for a few days scouring the countryside for intergalactic garbage.

Before Jack could turn around to tell Ianto what they needed, Ianto was gone. Jack supposed he really didn't need to give him too many orders.

Jack went into his office and called up the data Tosh had been showing them and then superimposed the latest data over a map of the park. There was a cluster of blips pretty far away from any signs of major civilization. Jack blew up that quadrant of the map and grinned at what he saw. Oh, that would do perfectly. He grabbed his mobile and made a reservation.

&lt;{*}&gt;

The next morning they left at seven a.m. Jack drove as far as Llanidloes, where they stopped to get lunch and coffees for the road; Ianto took over driving from there. Just before they reached Ffestiniog Jack pointed to the little grocery he spotted on the roadside. "We may as well get a few provisions."

Ianto obediently pulled into the dusty carpark. "I thought you said you'd made a reservation at a B and B? Surely they'll have food."

Jack rolled his head. "I said I made a reservation. I never said anything about B and B's. Please tell me you aren't confusing me with Owen."

Ianto got out of the car. "Not likely. Please tell me we aren't sleeping in the bloody tent tonight." He had no idea he could be that whiney and winced at his own tone.

"We're not sleeping in the 'bloody tent' either. I had a brainstorm," Jack said proudly.

"This ought to be hysterical," Ianto mumbled under his breath.

"And I think you'll like it," Jack continued as if Ianto hadn't spoken. "Come on, we need food." Jack wrapped an arm around Ianto's waist and led him into the market.

Ianto suppressed the urge to badger Jack's plan out of him. They got some canned stew and bread. Ianto grabbed some rice in a boil-in bag and Jack grabbed two bags of biscuits and a bag of crisps. Ianto grabbed milk and cereal for the morning – assuring Jack that he'd packed good coffee and the camp pot, so they wouldn't have to resort to instant – and Jack grabbed some soda and a container of strawberries. Before they could get to the counter they had each grabbed half a dozen other things that looked interesting.

"How many days are we planning to be out here?" Ianto asked as they unloaded their armfuls onto the counter.

"Tosh said we've got two major clusters to cover. One has a center about six miles from here and a radius of about two and a half miles. The other is about fifteen miles further north and has a four mile radius." Jack paid the elderly lady behind the counter as Ianto put their things into a sack. "I'm hoping three days here and two or three further up. Tosh says we'll lose the signal if it takes too much longer than that.

Ianto nodded as he stowed the provisions in the back seat.

"Toss me the keys," Jack hollered from where he stood on the driver's side.

Ianto did. After all, Jack was the one who seemed to have this fabulous plan, and the reservation, for where they'd stay that night.

Ten minutes later Jack pulled off the motorway and onto a gravel and dirt road. He followed that road for another ten minutes before going through a gate and stopping before a small wooden building that reminded Ianto a little of the tourist shop in Cardiff. Small, wooden, nondescript with a sign that simply said "office". Ianto wondered if they were a front for something bigger too. He then wondered if Torchwood made everyone that paranoid.

Jack parked the SUV in front of the building and told Ianto to wait there while he ducked inside. It was starting to get dark, and while he knew Jack had said they wouldn't need to be setting up the tent that night, he didn't see much in the way of a motel or hotel anywhere near them. In fact, all he saw were rather a lot of trees and three forks in the road they were currently parked on.

Jack came back out and tossed a crudely drawn map on the dashboard. On the left most fork there was a square drawn almost all the way down with "A12" written in it.

"All set," Jack said restarting the motor and pulling out. As Jack headed down the road, Ianto began to see a few people walking down the road and he was starting to think he smelled smoke. That's when he sorted it out. "A caravan?" he asked.

"This park is the closest we're going to get to the center of our little mop up detail out here. And I knew you didn't really want to try real camping again anytime soon. It seemed like the perfect solution." Jack watched him out of the corner of his eye, gauging whether or not he'd made a huge error.

Ianto shook his head. "I've never been in caravan before. I suppose if no one out here tries to eat me it will definitely be better the first time you tried to take me camping." He noticed the little wooden signs on posts driven into the ground every twenty-five feet or so, labeling the little gravel patches for each unit. "This is A6, so we should be just up the road," he told Jack.

"Yeah," Jack agreed. "They keep the rental caravans at the end of each road. And, you know, given that it's April, there aren't a lot of people around here. We shouldn't be bothered."

The way Jack's eyebrows bounced prompted Ianto to say, "I suspect the bigger concern might be us bothering others."

"Well, if you weren't such a screamer," Jack said as he pulled the SUV up next to a reasonably new-looking trailer.

Ianto just rolled his eyes. They both knew who was the noisy one in bed.

They climbed out of the SUV and Ianto grabbed the groceries and his overnight bag. Jack had a key in one hand and grabbed his bag in the other. "Our home away from home for the next few nights," Jack said with a flourish as he put the key in the lock and fumbled for a few second until he sorted it and flung open the flimsy door.

"You have done this before, haven't you?" Ianto asked from a few feet back.

"Not for about twenty years, but yeah, I have." Jack finally remembered to kick down the step tucked underneath and he pulled himself up into the caravan. He took a step in before dropping his bag and reaching up along the ceiling to find the switch attached to the overhead light. "There we go, much better," he said as a dull white light filled the small space.

Ianto followed him up a little more cautiously. "Cosy," he said as he took in the small space. "I think my first flat was about this size." He waited for Jack to move a little further in and then set the groceries on the table and his bag on the bench.

He'd been joking about the flat, of course. But really, it was amazing that there really was a whole flat's worth of accommodations in a space about sixteen long feet by seven or eight feet across. The whole area to the left of the door was taken up by a table with a bench on either side. Ianto figured four people could probably sit comfortably at any one time. Across from the door was a small cookstove with three small burners and a cabinet beneath. Next to the burners was a countertop with a small refrigerator under that. From the counter to the far wall was a double bed comfortably made up with a duvet and half a dozen pillows.

Boxing the bed in was a wall that stretched half the length of the bed. Ianto could see a plastic loo through the open door and a showerhead hanging over the toilet. Upon closer examination of the floor, he could see a small rise where the door would close and form a waterproof barrier and there was a drain in the floor. "The whole bathroom becomes the shower?" he asked as he peered past Jack.

"Yep. The sink is out here so you can use it for cooking too." Jack pointed to the small basin across from the foot end of the bed. He then moved to the two-foot, by two-foot closet between the sink and the door and hung up his greatcoat. "What do you think?" Jack asked at last.

"I think we're going to be tripping over each other an awful lot," he said as he tried to squeeze past Jack to get back to the door to finish retrieving their gear.

Jack deliberately stood in the small walkway until Ianto was in his personal space. He grabbed him by the hips and kissed him. "I don't have a problem with that."

"We're supposed to be out here working," Ianto said, but his tone clearly said that it was a token protest.

"It's going to be full dark very, very soon," Jack told him. "And we have become glorified park rangers, sent out to pick up space trash. It'll keep until morning." He kissed Ianto again, sliding one hand down from the small of his back and into the back pocket of Ianto's jeans.

Ianto pressed himself closer against Jack. "Well, if you're sure it can wait."

"It can," Jack said, his lips brushing against Ianto's as he spoke. After a minute he took a deep breath and collected himself, taking a half step back and taking his hand off Ianto's arse. "Why don't you go get the laptop and whatever else we don't want to leave out in the SUV overnight and I'll start dinner."

Ianto coughed and shook his head to clear it. "Of course." He stepped out into the night, the light from inside the caravan spilling out just enough to light the few steps to the SUV. He sorted through the camping kit he sorely hoped they wouldn't need further up north, and found the bag with the laptop and the handheld they'd use to track the trash. He then found the bag with the campfire coffeepot and the bag of coffee and filters and the other things he'd brought along. Nothing else seemed pressing, so he made sure everything else was locked up safe and the alarm was set.

Jack had managed to locate the churchkey and a pot and had several cans of stew heating on one burner and Ianto's rice on another. He was at the counter slicing the bread and there was butter sitting out by the pot to soften.

What amazed Ianto, almost as much as Jack cooking, was that on the table were two camp mugs, and between them an open bottle of really good wine.

Jack left the cooking for a minute and came up behind Ianto, wrapping his arms around his waist and hooking his chin over Ianto's shoulder. "I couldn't find a good way to sneak in good wine glasses, so we'll have to make do with those."

Ianto turned in Jack's arms and kissed him. "It's fine. Brilliant. I'd begin to be suspicious that you had set this all up just for us if you hadn't sent Owen and Gwen half-way across England to chase more trash."

Jack smiled. "I can't take the blame for the Rift refuse, but I can say that I'm perfectly willing to take shameless advantage of the situation." They kissed again, only stopping when a soft 'plop' from the stove reminded them that the stew needed stirring. Jack pulled back slowly. "You want to pour the wine while I get this stuff?"

Ianto set the computer bag in the closet and then turned to do exactly that. He felt ridiculously giddy over the whole situation. He and Jack had had their one Very Serious Date after Jack had returned from his time with the Doctor. And they'd gone out for dinner or an afternoon movie on occasion since then, but this was a whole different thing. This was like being on holiday together if he could forget that tomorrow they'd be out scavenging. But he pushed that far to the back of his mind as he poured the wine and sat down on the bench where he could watch Jack being as domestic as Ianto had ever seen him.

A few minutes later Jack came to the table with two plates of stew and rice and flatware for them both. "Is the wine any good?" he asked as he served them both and sat on the opposite side of the table.

"I was waiting for you," Ianto told him as he put his napkin on his lap and poked at the stew with his fork as if he wasn't sure what he'd find buried in it.

"Ah, well, here I am," Jack said as he raised his own glass.

"There you are," Ianto echoed, knowing that this conversation had the potential to go very silly very quickly when Jack was in a mood like he was. And truth be told, Ianto didn't mind so much this time.

Ianto took a sip of the wine and found it to be very good indeed. He knew that with Jack he really shouldn't have expected otherwise. Although how Jack managed to find a wine that went well with canned stew would probably remain a mystery for the ages.

As canned dinners went, it wasn't bad. Or maybe it was that Ianto wasn't really paying attention to what he was eating because for the first time in ages Jack was in a mood to talk. He was telling stories of the war and of how they survived on C-rations and K-rations and whatever they could scrounge for weeks on end. It made canned stew and boil-in-bag rice a five star dinner according to Jack. Of course, he'd had his share of those too and the stories took a turn for the more romantic. Men and women he'd romanced and been romanced by. Dinners on the canals of Venice and in places that booked up months in advance on the Seine.

Between them they finished the wine. Ianto wasn't sure, but he had a suspicion that he'd had more than Jack. Once they'd drunk what Ianto had poured, Jack had taken control of the bottle, filling their glasses as needed. Ianto got the impression that Jack thought his needed it more often than Jack's own.

Once they were done eating they'd pushed their dishes to the end of the table and stretched out along the benches, Jack still regaling Ianto with his tales; Ianto leaning on one fist in rapt attention. It took a lot to get Jack to talk this much. He wondered what had prompted it this time, but didn't risk ruining the atmosphere by asking.

As the night chill began to creep in, Jack put on a teakettle and then proceeded to do the washing up. Ianto found himself feeling ridiculously pampered by the whole event. Jack cooking and entertaining and then clearing up after them. He needed to do something helpful, so he grabbed the teatowel on a hook over the sink and dried as Jack washed.

When the kettle began to steam, Jack turned it down but not off.

"You know, I don't think we actually brought any tea," Ianto told him as he put the last plate away.

"It's not actually for tea," Jack told him as he pulled him down on to the bed. "The steam and the burner will help warm up the caravan a little. There's a little furnace we can kick in if it gets too bad, but once we're in bed, I think it'll be fine.

Ianto laughed. "Is that a hint?"

Jack scooted behind Ianto and wrapped his arms around his waist and kissed his ear. "Only if you want it to be," he said knowing full well his actions contradicted his words.

"I suppose you've come equipped for any and all occasions?" Ianto asked, because really, when packing for a week in the woods, the one thing he hadn't counted on was needing lube. But of course, he was going into the woods for a week with Captain Jack Harkness. Really, he should have figured.

But, as usual, Jack was prepared. He grabbed his duffle and riffled around until he came up with a new tube. "You mean this?"

Ianto laughed. "Yeah, that's pretty much what I was getting at." He shook his head and glanced around the caravan. All said it _was_ a bit more comfortable than the last time they'd had sex in the woods. That had consisted of a drunken truth or dare game turning into Jack giving him a blow job against a tree and then very, very thoroughly fucking him in the tent. And he had no complaints on either score, but the bed and the pillows and the duvet of the caravan really did seem a bit more inviting than either tree bark on his back or the camp mats with two sleeping bags zipped together on them.

And anything short of actually dying was better than the trip out of the city before that.

Jack stretched forward and turned off the burner, letting the kettle steam away under its own power for a few more minutes. Ianto wasn't sure, but either the kettle or Jack pressed against his back really did make the little camper feel warmer.

Jack scooted back against the pillows and opened his legs. "Come 'ere," he said and crooked a finger.

Ianto kicked off his shoes and slid up to sit sideways to Jack, his legs over one of Jack's, his arm around Jack's side. "Like this?" Ianto asked, attempting to be coy.

"Something like," Jack answered, wrapping one arm around Ianto's shoulders and pulling him in for a long, deep kiss with the other.

Ianto was panting when they broke away and he realized then and there that they wouldn't need that little furnace that night. They were clearly quite capable of making their own heat.

As Jack began kissing a trail from behind Ianto's ear down his neck, Ianto pushed Jack's braces to his sides and started on his buttons. Jack pulled Ianto's jumper up and moved far enough back to get it over his head. Once they were staring at each other's t-shirts they came to the mutual and silent understanding that in the limited room of the caravan it would be much easier to simply strip themselves down rather than risk doing someone an injury by trying to maneuver in the cramped quarters.

When there was a pile of clothing at the bottom of the bed, Jack lay back against the pillows and pulled Ianto down on top of him.

Ianto propped himself up over Jack's face and then leaned down so that their noses brushed together each time either of them moved or breathed. "This caravan was a brilliant idea," Ianto whispered against his lips.

"I'm glad you like it," Jack said. He knew that Ianto wasn't a stranger to camping. There had been mentions of camping on the beach with Lisa, but Jack hadn't heard of him trying it since the disaster with the cannibals, with the exception of the one time Jack had dragged everyone out there to get over that time. He hadn't wanted to stir up memories of Lisa, but Jack enjoyed getting back to nature himself. He liked the idea of being far away and all alone with someone he cared about. He'd hoped the caravan would be the ideal compromise, but he hadn't been sure. But now, with Ianto doing his damnedest to leave a bruise just above Jack's collarbone, Jack knew he'd done good.

Ianto bit down just the slightest bit on the bruise he'd raised and Jack surged up against him, his cock taking a very rampant interest in the here and now, and shoving all bits of introspection to the furthest recesses of Jack's mind. "Oh damn, Ianto!" he hissed as one of his hands found its way to Ianto's arse and he squeezed the smooth, hard muscle.

"I figure we had a few days… no one would notice." Ianto was leaning over him again with such a wicked gleam in his eye that Jack didn't have the heart to tell him that the love bite would be gone before morning the way he healed.

"Oh yeah?" he asked instead, wrapping both arms tightly around Ianto and flipping them over. "Well, two can play at that game." Jack slithered down the bed, carefully angling so that his feet would find the small gap at the end and he wouldn't end up scrunched against the sink counter. When his face was over Ianto's stomach he kissed and licked a line from Ianto's navel to his hip and proceeded to suck and worry the skin over one prominent hip bone until Ianto had a spot that matched the one he could still feel tingling in his neck.

"Oh fuck, Jack, yes!" Ianto growled as Jack gave one last poke at the love bite before slowly working his mouth across Ianto's stomach to the tip of his very hard cock. He glanced up to see Ianto fisting the covers in both hands, his face sweaty, his eyes closed tightly.

Jack pulled back just enough to lick him from testicles to tip in one long swipe. He gently pressed Ianto back into the mattress as he arched up off the bed, a string of curses and praises being mumbled and gasped all the while.

"Like that?" Jack asked, his lips ghosting over Ianto's shaft.

"Why do you insist on asking the dumbest questions in bed?" Ianto asked, exasperation writ in every word.

Jack laughed. One of the best things, in his estimation, about sleeping with Ianto Jones was that when he was rightly turned on, he had no internal censor. All of that cool-as-a-cucumber exterior, that carefully polished civility that he showed to everyone else, was nowhere to be seen when he was in bed. Jack thought it was fabulous, but knew better than ever say that to him. Once he was turned on, whatever went through his head came out his mouth. And sometimes, more than anything, it was the release of that rigidity that turned Jack on.

He chose not to answer Ianto's question, and instead moved up to slide his hands under Ianto's arse and hold him tight as he took just the tip of Ianto's cock in his mouth and sucked. Hard.

It was a good thing Jack was holding him still or Ianto knew he would have bucked up into Jack's face in a way that could have had unpleasant consequences for them both. Instead he clawed at the blankets and threw his head back letting out a long hiss of pleasure and a throaty, "Jack! God god!"

When Jack released him, Ianto sagged back against the bed, but still held the duvet tightly in both hands. "Jesus, Jack, you need to either finish what you started or let me fuck you, because right now I am so far gone I can't even see straight."

Jack raised his head from where it rested momentarily on Ianto's belly. "You want to fuck me?" Ianto rarely expressed a desire to top and was always eager to have Jack take him, so this was something that, while not exactly new, was rare. Jack kissed his belly. "I think I like what all this fresh air does to you," he said as he fumbled around the messed up sheets searching for the lube. He held it out to Ianto. "Here you go," he said in invitation.

Ianto sat up looking for all the world like he wanted to tear the plastic safety wrapper off with his teeth. Jack was pretty sure his hands were shaking as he finally found the perforated line and ripped the package open and fumbled with the cap. Jack covered one of Ianto's hands with his own. "Relax, I'm certainly not going anywhere. We have all night."

Ianto took a deep, steadying breath. "I must admit to feeling a tad desperate," Ianto said and Jack swore he blushed. "I mean, the setting, the fact that you made every innuendo-laden comment you could think of on the way up here, the little seduction scene at dinner…" Ianto paused for a breath, "And the fact that the Weevils and the Rift have conspired to keep us apart for eleven days, has me a little on edge."

Jack's smile was one of both pride and affection. He was a bit thrilled that Ianto had realized that the actual seduction had started when they'd gotten in the SUV that morning. And that Ianto had been playing along – playing slightly hard to get – when acting exasperated and impatient with Jack's one-track mind as they drove. Jack had wondered why Ianto had seemed perfectly content to let Jack's hand rest on his thigh when Ianto drove, and just a little bit higher while Jack did. And now he completely understood Ianto wanting to put an end to twelve hours of subtle but effective foreplay. "How do you want me?" he asked in his flirtiest voice.

Ianto squeezed his eyes and mouth shut as he struggled to keep in the first thing that came to mind.

"Don't start editing yourself now," Jack chided. "You know I'll tell you if you suggest something I don't want. But I'm telling you – again – there's very little I object to."

Ianto hesitated a fraction of a second more but finally said, "On your knees."

Jack surged up and kissed Ianto hard and with as much passion as he could muster. Ianto Jones seeking power in bed was insanely erotic. And having Jack on his knees was a sign that he wanted control. He wanted to be the one setting the pace and making the decisions. Jack bit down on his lip as a wave of pure lust swept through him at the thought. He scrambled to comply, his knees tucked under his chest, his head pillowed on his arms.

Without prelude or comment, Jack felt the lube hitting the skin of his arse straight from the tube. He liked to think that Ianto was too far gone to think of warming it up for him. He liked to think he could completely shatter Ianto's innate tendency to do everything for everyone else before thinking of himself.

Two fingers spread the lube up and down his arse, initially only grazing Jack's entrance. After what had to have been several minutes of the slow teasing Jack finally said, "Okay, you know what, I think I'm the desperate one now. Can we please… ya know…?"

Ianto leaned down and carefully bit another bruise right into the flesh of Jack's right arse cheek. When Jack began to buck into that feeling, Ianto slid those two fingers deep inside of him.

"Oh, yes!" Jack yelped as he finally felt himself stretched. He pushed and wiggled as Ianto slid first those two and then three fingers deep inside of him. It didn't take long for him to feel relaxed and ready. He wondered if spurring Ianto on would lead to a matching bruise on his other arse cheek. Then he wondered if that was something he ought to seek or avoid.

Before he could decide, Ianto's hand was gone and Jack could hear the quiet belching of the lube tube and he realized, without turning around to check, that Ianto was slicking himself up.

Jack bolted up to turn enough to watch. "Oh, damn that's gorgeous," he whispered as he stared at Ianto handling himself, making sure there was lube from root to crown. Jack wondered if Ianto wasn't feeling just a bit the exhibitionist just then as he threw back his head, his hand moving slowly up and down his own cock, his mouth open just slightly, his eyes shut. Jack was afraid he'd come just from that sight alone. He convinced himself to look away for now, but also made himself a mental promise to get Ianto to masturbate for him sometime. He was certain that would be one of the top seven most erotic things in the known universe. And he was reasonably sure the other six wouldn't be invented for at least eight-hundred years.

He barely kept himself from gasping, "Finally," when he felt the blunt tip of Ianto's cock at his entrance. Instead he concentrated on pushing back at the exact same speed as Ianto pushed in.

In one strong stroke, Ianto was buried to the hilt in Jack. For a moment they both just froze, enjoying the feeling. Ianto draped himself over Jack's back and rested against him, placing little kisses along Jack's spine. "You feel so good," he whispered into Jack's hair.

"So do you," Jack agreed.

The urge to move became too great after a minute or so, so Ianto put his hands on the bed, on either side of Jack's waist and pulled back slowly, gasping as Jack tightened just a bit around him as he did, as if Jack was trying to keep him inside.

Once back far enough that he could arrange his stance on his knees a bit, Ianto changed his angle, and slid back in. He always came so incredibly hard from having Jack inside him that he didn't top often, and this was the one thing he wasn't quite sure he was good enough at yet. Jack, Ianto was convinced, could find his prostate from across the room, and Ianto wasn't sure he would ever get to be that accurate. When Jack wiggled, but didn't otherwise react to the new angle, Ianto figured he'd missed and resituated himself on the next stroke. This time Jack's head came back with a snap and he sucked in his breath with an audible whoosh.

Ianto felt quite proud of himself and began to slide in and out in earnest. Now that he knew where he was aiming, he was able to hit it each time without having to try too hard.

Jack was quickly reduced to a constant recitation of Ianto's name and Ianto found that he couldn't form any coherent words as they moved together, Jack eventually coming up on his arms to rock back into Ianto's thrusts.

Ianto was lost in the rhythm they'd created and barely noticed when Jack stuttered and then arched. He was very well aware, however, when Jack's body squeezed his cock so tightly he could barely pull back out.

Ianto forced his eyes open, watching as Jack came down from his high, his body going limp under him. Ianto pulled Jack's hips back and thrust another half a dozen times before Jack started whispering, "You're so close, aren't you? You're going to come for me. You're going to come in me. You-"

Ianto didn't hear the rest as white noise and white light overran his senses. He had the presence of mind to wonder if he was leaving fingerprints in Jack's hips as he thrust forward one last time, but not the control over his body to loosen his grip. Utterly wrecked by the force of his orgasm, Ianto collapsed, but missed both landing entirely on Jack or the bed, ending up half on each.

Jack slid out from under Ianto and brought him in close. "That was amazing," Jack told him, kissing him gently. He wasn't really surprised when Ianto couldn't quite muster the energy to respond very enthusiastically. And he was perfectly pleased to have been the one to have done Ianto in so completely. "You're going to fall asleep right here, just like this, aren't you?"

"Hmm," was the only response Ianto could manage.

Jack kissed his forehead and slid out of bed long enough to find the package of handwipes he'd also had the foresight to bring. He quickly cleaned them both off – the cool handwipes causing Ianto to rouse enough to give Jack an evil glare – and tidied everything else up. It took some doing but he finally got Ianto to get off the duvet long enough for Jack to be sure they didn't have any unsightly spots to remove, before getting them both under it.

When Jack finally turned off the light and gathered Ianto into his arms, he found that Ianto's breathing had already evened out, but even so, Ianto managed to get one arm around Jack's waist and he snuggled his cold nose against Jack's shoulder.

Jack kissed the top of Ianto's head and let himself slide off to that same safe, quite place.

&lt;{*}&gt;

The next morning Jack woke Ianto with a wet towel to the face. "Shower's all yours," he said brightly as he stood naked in the only space Ianto could use to get out of bed and stretched his arms up over his head.

"Is it even dawn yet?" Ianto mumbled into the pillow as he stretched as well, feeling just a tad sore from all of the previous night's exertions.

"It's ten to seven, lazy ass," Jack chided. "I've been up for an hour and a half."

Ianto cracked his eyes open, "You can get by with less than three hours of sleep. Some of us are just mere mortals, sir."

"Well, get your mortal ass out of bed," Jack said cheerily, "I'm not completely thrilled by the looks of the sky. I'd like to get a few of those pieces rounded up before it opens up on us."

Ianto reached over and slid the curtain away from the small window across from him to study the gray skies. "Bugger," he mumbled as he shoved the blankets down and slid from the bed.

Jack gathered him up as he stood, pressing their naked bodies together. He ignored Ianto's morning breath to give him a long, sweet good morning kiss. "You already did," he said when they came apart.

Ianto squinted at him trying to figure out what Jack was referring to. When he realized Jack was finally responding to his muttered curse, Ianto smiled and then gave Jack a swat on the behind. "Yes, I did," he said with no small amount of pride as he slipped past Jack and into the small caravan bathroom.

Once they were both clean and dressed, Ianto made coffee while Jack set out the cereal. They ate quickly as the gathering clouds loomed closer. Once the mugs and bowls were washed and set out to dry, they headed out to the SUV where they each grabbed a canvas backpack to haul their targets back to camp. Jack took the Rift energy detector and Ianto grabbed a handful of granola bars and a few bottles of water.

Jack looked up at the sky. "Well be lucky if we can stay out until lunch," he said nodding at Ianto's provisions.

"Can't hurt to have them on hand," Ianto said as he slung his backpack over his shoulders.

Jack shrugged and turned on the detector. After entering some data he swung it in a slow arc waiting for it to beep. When it did, Jack pointed off to the tree line to the north, "Guess we're going this way."

The ground was already damp with dew and, Jack guessed, it had rained there recently because his boots made a soft 'squelch' when he stepped and the grass was slippery. He and Ianto talked about everything and nothing as they followed the signal into the woods. About an hour into their search they found the first of their designated pieces of trash. They stood in one place for a few minutes trying to understand why the signal was so strong in any direction they waved the device in, but they still couldn't find anything. It wasn't until Jack set the scanner down to tie his shoe, and propped it against a rock, that they realized that the item they were tracking was straight up.

Ianto looked up from the base of the nearest tree. "There's a nest about twenty feet up…" he said scowling.

Jack held the scanner over his head as far as he could and the quick beeping turned into a constant tone. "Yep."

Ianto took off his backpack and handed it to Jack. "Give me a boost then," he finally sighed when Jack made no move to be the one to shimmy up the trunk and aggravate whatever birdlife had claimed their prize.

Jack laced his fingers together and helped Ianto reach the lowest branch and then watched as Ianto moved gracefully from branch to branch. "I should have brought a video camera," he teased.

Ianto didn't waste the energy to respond to him. It took him less than a second to realize that Jack wasn't admiring his tree climbing skills; he was just admiring the view of his arse.

Eventually he was able to stand on a sturdy branch and see into the large nest they'd seen from the ground. Two good-sized eggs were nestled into a pile of moss and leaves. Woven into the top of the nest was a silver string that from a distance could have been one of those triple-wide shoelaces from the nineteen-eighties. Only bright silver and almost a yard long. Ianto carefully disentangled it from where it had recently been woven into the top of the nest, careful not to touch the eggs. "Jack!" he hollered before he tossed it down. "Tell me that's it before I climb down. He hitched a leg over the next branch and balanced himself while Jack ran the scanner over the shoestring.

"We're good!" Jack shouted back up and then proceeded to watch avidly as Ianto climbed back down.

When Ianto was seated on the lowest branch, a good eight feet off the ground, Jack held up his arms. "Jump!" he invited.

Ianto did and Jack caught him as he fell, helping him keep his balance as he hit the ground. Jack placed a quick kiss on his nose. "I had no idea those jeans fit you that well."

Ianto rolled his eyes and stepped back. "Work to do, Jack." When he saw the grin spread over Jack's face he added, "No Jack, real work to do."

Jack checked the sky. "I'm almost hoping it starts raining soon now."

"What did we find?" Ianto asked, completely ignoring Jack's continued baiting.

Jack sighed and capitulated, taking the string out of his pocket. "I think it's Frexian memory string."

Ianto took the handheld from Jack and began scanning. "And what does that do?" The device started to go off whenever Jack and the string got close so Ianto focused on reprogramming it and then waved it around.

"Well, I think this one is broken, but do you remember back when people would say you should tie a string around your finger to help you remember something?" Jack was stretching the string out and examining it.

"Uh-huh," Ianto said as he finished tapping on the monitor.

"I think it came from this stuff," Jack said frowning as he realized that the end had been cut which would make it useless. "You tied this around your wrist and basically thought your grocery list or whatever into it. When you needed to remember you took it off and snapped it like this," Jack took either end and tugged them, making the string taut, "And it put the memory back in your head."

Ianto made a face. "That's… odd. This way," he said pointing out a course slightly east of where they had been walking. "There's two signals about equal distance from here. If I'm reading this right, one of them is at a higher elevation than the other again." He sighed. "If I have to spend my whole damn day climbing trees…" He didn't even bother finishing the threat. He and Jack both knew they'd do whatever needed done to finish this (rather mundane) Torchwood mission."

Jack put an arm around him as they set off. "I had a boyfriend once who liked to put really… creative memories in them and then put the string around my wrist before I left in the morning." Jack's eyebrows bounced comically. He held up the string again, looking at it forlornly. "Too bad this one is broken. Last night might have made for an interesting recording."

Long practice told Ianto that this was clearly going to be one of those days where he just needed to let Jack talk and insinuate and the best way to get him to quit would be to not acknowledge him at all. At least until they made it back to the caravan. "We need to go about six-tenths of a mile this way. Then you can go get the one to the west and I'll go for the one straight north and we can meet up in the middle."

"So focused this morning," Jack said with a mixture of approval and disappointment in his voice.

Jack stuck to more neutral topics of conversation as they made their way towards the next two signals. When they reached the fork in the non-existent road, Ianto handed the computer to Jack. "Here, if there are any more trees, you're on your own." Ianto patted his pockets until he came up with his mobile, checking to make sure he had a signal before Jack got out of shouting range.

Jack took the handheld and pointed, "You're about a thousand yards that way. I'm a little under two-thousand the other. We'll meet back here?"

Ianto nodded and headed off into the woods.

&lt;{*}&gt;

As Ianto walked in the silence of the forest he let himself wonder, for the first time in two years, what he'd be doing in London if the Cybermen and Daleks had never invaded. He still missed Lisa, sure, but he couldn't imagine that his life would be more exiting, more interesting if he was still working in the research labs on Floor 8: Technology Deemed Inactive or Harmless. Like everyone at Torchwood One, he'd heard of Jack Harkness, but he'd only believed maybe a tenth of the stories. It took meeting the man to understand that most of them were probably true after all. In fact, they were probably soft-selling him half the time.

He heard the roar of a river in the distance and hoped that there would either be a bridge or that he'd find his target on the near bank, because unless he'd been more lost in thought than he'd figured, a thousand yards would be right about in the middle of the stream.

He made his way quickly to the banks, not sure if he was hearing thunder in the distance or if it was just the river crashing further down. By the time he reached the river, he understood why there was such a discrepancy in the altitudes between his and Jack's targets. The river was at the bottom of a twelve-foot valley cut into the mountains. The sky chose just that moment to open up, quickly slicking up the rocks and grass that he'd need to climb down.

Deciding that standing there staring at the problem wasn't making it any better, Ianto began carefully picking his way down the bank. He'd made it about half way down without incident and was feeling confident so he began to move a little quicker as the rain soaked through his jacket. He wanted to retrieve his piece of space trash before Jack rang him and told him to pack it in.

He had another five feet to go when his mobile went off in his pocket, surprising him. His foot hit a slick rock as he turned his attention from his climb to fishing his phone out of his denims and he lost his balance and went down hard and fast.

When he stopped tumbling arse over teakettle, his first thought was that he'd learned how to fall well enough that he'd managed to keep his head from impacting with anything harder than the weeds that had sprung up between the rocks. Though when he put his hand up to his jaw, he realized something had poked through his skin and he was bleeding a little, and even though it stung a tad, he was sure he'd done himself worse shaving.

He sighed and sat up, rearranging himself on the wet ground. It was when he untucked his left foot from where it was pinned under his right leg that he realized what his true problem was. It was also when his mobile went off again. He leaned back to retrieve the damn thing from his pocket and stabbed the 'accept call' button.

"Ianto?" Jack asked through the speaker before Ianto could even get the phone to his ear.

"Yes Jack?" he asked, grimacing and biting back a cry before Jack could hear it.

"I've called three times, your mobile kept going to voicemail. What the hell are you doing?"

"Falling down a riverbank," Ianto said flatly as he finished stretching his feet out, and bit back another yelp.

Clearly that wasn't the answer Jack expected because there was a shocked silence before Jack asked "Are you _okay_?"

Ianto reached down and pulled up the hem of his jeans and saw the way his left ankle was already starting to swell. He decided to start with the good news. "I haven't hit my head or anything like that."

"But…?" Jack asked, knowing when Ianto was cushioning bad news.

"But I seem to have done a bit of a number on my ankle." He found that he needed to loosen his bootlace to accommodate the expansion of his limb. "Quite a number," he added.

"Sit tight, I'm on my way," Jack told him and Ianto could hear Jack's breathing quicken as he began moving towards him. "Stay on the phone with me, I'm using the signal to locate you."

"Jack, I'm not dying, I'm just… highly inconvenienced." Ianto leaned back on his arm and looked down the riverbank. "Of course," he sighed at what he saw.

"'Of course' what?" Jack asked.

"Well," Ianto said as he began dragging himself downriver, "I was fortunate enough to land within a dozen feet of my target."

"Sit still!" Jack admonished.

"Almost there," Ianto grunted knowing Jack could yell all he wanted, but he couldn't actually stop him and now it was a matter of pride. He wasn't going to take a hit like this _and_ be denied his prize. "Hm… found it," he said as he reached a metallic green box half buried in the silt at the edge of the river.

"Ianto!" Jack scolded.

"I have it and now I'm going to hobble back to the larger rocks I landed on, where I am going to sit still and wait for you." Ianto was panting by the time he got back to the boulders that would be comfortable enough to sit on while he waited. In the mean time he turned the green box over and over in his hands. It had a lid that seemed to be wedged on pretty tightly. Ianto debated using his pocketknife to wedge it open, but for all he knew it contained someone's smelly old underwear or possibly some lethal alien plague. So best to let Jack take that risk.

Jack was nattering away as he worked his way through the forest using the open mobile signal to track Ianto. Ianto set the phone on the rock next to him, shielded slightly by his backpack. The rain had become more intense and Ianto found himself trying to wipe off his face with a soaking wet sleeve. Eventually he resigned himself to having his hair drip into his face.

"Ianto!" Jack hollered from where he was hiking up the riverbed.

"Down here!" Ianto hollered back, waving his hand.

Jack trotted over and skidded to a stop next to his battered employee. "How bad is it?"

Ianto rolled his eyes. "For the last time, Jack, I slipped. I did not hit my head or break anything. I've just … done something to my ankle." Ianto waved a hand nebulously at his leg.

Jack knelt next to Ianto's foot. "I wouldn't count on nothing being broken," he said after examining the swelling as best he could without touching it. He pulled his mobile out and punched the speed dial.

"Who are you going to call out here? I can't imagine –"

"I'm calling Owen," Jack cut him off.

"Well, I'm not sitting here while he hauls himself out of whatever posh London B and B he's gotten himself into." Ianto leaned down and loosened his boot a little more.

"Owen? Yeah, it's Jack. We've had a bit of an accident… What? No… Yeah… No, Ianto fell and did in his ankle and we're about four and a half miles from civilization. Uh huh. I think it may be broken."

"It's not _broken_ Jack, I told you," Ianto interrupted.

"Says you," Jack replied, one hand over the speaker. He turned his attention back to the phone. "Well, it's been about half an hour or so and it's already about twice as big as his other one and he keeps loosening his boot string. Uh huh. Kind of red and purple in spots, white in others. No, it's _facing_ the right way, but I don't think he can bend it." He looked up at Ianto, "Can you wiggle your toes?"

Ianto screwed up his face as he attempted it. "I can, but all the same I'd prefer not to."

Jack repeated Ianto's words to Owen and 'uh-huhed' a couple more times before saying thanks and ending the call. "Owen actually agrees with you – it's probably not broken – but he says to splint it up the best we can and to get you to the nearest town and get an x-ray."

Ianto sighed. He could have figured that out for himself. Four and a half miles back to camp in the rain with a bum ankle. This was going to suck so hard.

"Stay put," Jack told him. I'm going to find some branches we can use as a splint and another that we can use for a cane or crutch."

Ianto just nodded. He really didn't have a lot of options at that point.

Jack was able to find some suitable branches that he could break down to usable size with his boots. A few dozen yards past that he found a branch that seemed to be a good size to use as a crutch, with a piece sticking out that might just make a decent handle.

He came back to find Ianto still sitting on his rock, turning the green box over in his hands. "Okay, now we just need to bind these up…" Jack knelt down and evaluated the situation. "This would be easier if we could take your shoe off, but I'm thinking that may not be the world's best plan while we're still a half a dozen miles from the SUV." Instead Jack set to work pulling the lace completely out of the boot and tugging the edges of the hiking boot away from Ianto's rapidly expanding leg.

Ianto hissed, but otherwise refused to complain about the pain as Jack managed to insert the ends of the branches into his shoe and use the lace to tie them around his calf. When Jack seemed to be done, Ianto slid his leg down from the rock it rested on to the ground and let out a sharp cry as the sticks slid back towards his heel. "Okay as much as this is going to really, really suck," he told Jack as he pulled the splints closer to where they needed to be, "I think you're going to have to tie them closer to my ankle as well."

"With what?" Jack asked as he realigned the splints.

Ianto actually laughed as he came up with it. "That string I pulled from that bird's nest today. It has to be at least a meter long. It should make it around my ankle at least once, even in it's current shape."

Jack laughed then too, realizing that if Ianto could find a certain amount of humor in the situation, then he could too. Jack pulled his backpack off and rummaged around until he found the string and very carefully used it to bind the splint in place. He gently wiggled the very slap-dash contraption and deemed it to be as stable as they could get it. "Here, let's get you up." Jack wrapped an arm under Ianto's shoulders and heaved him up onto his good foot. "So far so good?"

Ianto nodded, knowing that the worst was yet to come. He had to be able to walk on it.

Jack held out the larger stick, one that was about as big around as Ianto's wrist. "Can you lean on that on one side and me on the other?"

Ianto shifted to get his hand onto Jack's shoulder and tested his balance with his weight on their makeshift crutch. "I suppose I'll have to," he said fatalistically as he put just a fraction of his weight on his left foot and promptly bit his lip against the shooting pain. "I have a feeling this is going to be quite slow going," he admitted.

"That's alright," Jack reassured him as he steadied him. "Stand still for one second," he said as he disentangled himself and quickly shoved the green box into his backpack, followed by Ianto's backpack and the handheld. Once his bag was shouldered again, he wrapped his arm back around Ianto. "Okay, here we go. This can take as long as it needs to. If you need to stop and rest, just say so."

"No," Ianto said firmly taking a determined step forward, forcing Jack to move with him. "I need to do this in as close to one shot as I can. If I stop, I am not going to want to get back up."

Jack took as much of Ianto's weight as he could and they eventually found a hobbling gait that seemed to be slightly less than excruciating for Ianto. "However you want to do this," Jack agreed.

"Besides, the ibuprofen is back in the SUV. The sooner we get back, the sooner I can take some pills and get some ice and –" Ianto stopped suddenly and Jack got his first glimpse into how much pain Ianto was apparently masking. Talking and walking at the same time seemed to be a bit too taxing.

"Alright," Jack agreed, just to keep Ianto from expending energy he couldn't afford to waste right now. "And some dry clothes wouldn't hurt us either. But once we manage that I'm driving you into town to find the nearest place to get you an x-ray and a real splint, if not a cast."

Ianto rolled his eyes at the idea of the cast, but didn't waste the breath arguing.

&lt;{*}&gt;

It had taken them a little over an hour to walk the four miles out in the first place. It took them more than three to get back. By then even Jack was soaked clear through his greatcoat. Ianto's jacket and jumper weighed at least fifty pounds with the added water and Ianto's face was so gray from the pain that Jack was starting to debate the wisdom in a fireman's carry.

Jack did have to lift him up the two steps into the caravan when they finally made it. Once inside, Jack got Ianto out of his sodden clothes, warning him that getting his boot off would probably hurt – which it did. The sock was virtually plastered to the swollen skin, so Jack pulled out his pocketknife and simply cut it away. Jack inspected Ianto's swollen foot and ankle. Despite his earlier assertion that it was probably broken, he didn't see any obvious deformity so he grabbed a towel from the bathroom and rubbed the water out of Ianto's hair before rubbing him down brusquely with it. He then grabbed the duvet off the bed and wrapped it around Ianto. "Sit here for a second. I'm going to run to the SUV for the first aid kit." Jack got Ianto situated at the table with his bad foot up on the opposite bench.

Ianto watched out the window as Jack ducked back out into the rain and rummaged through the back hatch of the SUV for the well-stocked first aid kit Owen always kept back there. As Jack approached the caravan's awning, Ianto reached over and held the door for him.

"Hang on a second," Jack said as he set the box on the floor of the caravan and then proceeded to strip and leave his sodden clothes on the grass, under the awning. "No point in dragging more water in here," he said with a grin as he hopped up and towel dried himself quickly. After rummaging around in his bag he found a pair of sweatpants and a clean white t-shirt and a pair of dry socks.

"Okay…" Jack said as he put the kit on the table. "First thing we need to do is give you these," he said as he ripped open two packets of pain tablets and handed three pills to Ianto and ran him a glass of water from the tap. "And now," he continued to narrate his actions, "Let me look for…" he grabbed Ianto's duffle and dug through it. "Tell me you brought some pajama pants or sweatpants or something," he said as he dug past jumpers and jeans.

"Pajamas at the bottom, why?" Ianto slammed back all three pills at once and leaned his head back against the back of the bench and waited for them to kick in.

Jack pulled out the pants triumphantly. "Because I found a real splint in the first aid kit, but it's going to need to be taped in place. I think you'd really rather I didn't tape it directly to your skin."

"Ah, yes. I do appreciate that," Ianto said as he claimed the pajamas and slid to the edge of the bench where he let Jack help him very, very carefully slide them over his left foot before sticking his right foot in and gingerly standing and wiggling them up the rest of the way. Jack's little arched eyebrow of interest wasn't entirely lost on Ianto. "Don't even think about it," Ianto warned caustically.

"I promise to be very well behaved," Jack said earnestly as he sat on the floor and pulled the busted up foot into his lap. He fitted the ankle splint under his foot, carefully folding the sides around Ianto's leg, up over the pants. "Hand me the wide tape?" Jack asked, holding the splint gently.

Ianto dug through the box, finally locating the two-inch wide tape and handing it down to Jack who tore off long strips and very, very carefully secured the plastic supports in three different places. Gently resting a hand on Ianto's knee, Jack finally took a deep breath and let himself relax. "How are you feeling now?"

Ianto looked out the window where it was still pissing down rain. "Better. Thank you. I suspect the pain pills should kick in soon too."

"You need an x-ray," Jack said quietly, knowing neither of them wanted to go back out in that god-awful weather.

"I know," Ianto said just as the fatigue of the whole day caught up with him. "But right now I think I'm more tired than in pain. Why don't we wait and see if the rain lets up in a bit.

Still on the floor, Jack carefully wrapped his fingers around Ianto's toes. "You've still got decent circulation. I guess it could wait until after we've had a bit of a nap. Possibly some lunch."

Ianto made a face. "I guess I am a bit hungry."

Jack dug through their provisions. "We have some soup and the bread left over from last night."

"Bril-" Ianto let out a huge gasp before finishing, "Brilliant."

Jack dashed back to his side. "You okay?"

Ianto's head was dropped back against the wall, his eyes closed. "Those pain pills kicked in rather suddenly. I wouldn't call it one-hundred percent better, but a _marked_ improvement," Ianto told him with such a look of relief on his face that Jack couldn't help but lean down and kiss him.

"I'll get lunch. You relax. Owen says there's morphine in that kit if we need it." Jack rattled around pulling out pans and plates as he spoke.

"It's not that bad. As long as I can stay still and off it, I think I'll manage on the pain tablets. They're making quite a difference already." Ianto wasn't even bothering to open his eyes to look at Jack as he spoke.

"Ooh!" Jack said suddenly, "You got frozen peas yesterday."

Ianto could hear him tossing the bag up and catching it, breaking up the little pellets of peas that had frozen together. "The soup and bread are enough for me, Jack."

"No, not to eat," Jack said rubbing the bag to break up any remaining clusters before wrapping the bag in the teatowel and carefully placing the peas over Ianto's taped ankle. "How's that?"

Ianto nodded, "Fine. Thank you."

Ianto rested as Jack made lunch. He eventually managed to drag his bag over to find a clean shirt and asked Jack to put the duvet back on the bed so they wouldn't risk getting lunch all over it.

Jack sat next to him, the bench being a little cozy for two men, but Jack reckoned it was better than jostling Ianto's foot. They were quiet while they ate, Ianto eventually pushing his mostly empty soup bowl to the middle of the table and resting his head on Jack's shoulder. "Jack, is it possible there was something else in those pills you gave me?"

"Something like what?" Jack asked quietly, reaching up to run his fingers through Ianto's hair..

"I'm awfully sleepy." Ianto snuggled into Jack's shoulder.

"Well, you just hiked back a half dozen miles on a broken ankle –"

"It's not broken," Ianto butted in predictably.

"Whatever, it's not surprising that you're tired." Jack pulled the first aid kit from the counter he'd set it on while setting up for lunch and found the tablet packets he'd tossed back in there. He showed them to Ianto. "Owen told me to give you paracetemol with codeine."

Ianto chuckled. "No _wonder_ I feel so much better."

"Yeah, that could have something to do with it," Jack sighed as he put an arm around Ianto and kissed his forehead. "How about we get you tucked into bed while you sleep them off."

"Hmm…" Ianto mumbled, "Will you come lay down with me?"

"Once I get the dishes cleaned up," Jack promised as he carefully extracted Ianto from his side. "Come on, let's get you in bed before you're of no use at all." Jack helped him stand and balanced him as he hopped the few feet to the bed where Jack helped him crawl in and then arranged the blankets for him. He glanced back at the dirty soup bowls and open sodas on the table. They'd keep for a few, he decided before crawling in after Ianto and wrapping his arms around Ianto's chest from behind.

"I thought you were doing the dishes," Ianto slurred into the pillows.

"Once you're asleep," Jack promised. "And once you've slept. And when you do wake up, you're going for that x-ray," he told him in as much of a no-nonsense, I'm-the-boss voice as he could muster.

"If you insist, Jack," Ianto said before stretching and snuggling back into Jack.

"Then from there I'll bring you home and Tosh and I will come finish the trash collecting, okay?"

There was no response so Jack sat up and peered into Ianto's face. Ianto's eyes were closed and his lips were ever so slightly parted. The rise and fall of his chest under Jack's hands evened out and Jack realized it would be several hours before Ianto would be in any position to discuss further plans for collecting Rift refuse.

And after seeing him in so much pain he was gray, so wet and miserable that he'd been shaking even after being under the duvet for a while, Jack realized that it was okay that he was resting now. They'd get to civilization later and he'd be checked from stem to stern and then Jack would get him home and safely installed in the hub to finish his recovery. Jack wondered if maybe it wouldn't be a horrible abuse of his relationship with Martha to try and get UNIT to finish this recovery operation. Nothing they'd found seemed particularly dangerous so far. And even if something turned out to be, UNIT was well trained. It wasn't as if Jack wanted to get into a possession debate over some space trash.

Jack started feeling the toll of the day creep up on him too. He couldn't remember the last time he'd ever napped during the day, but it was starting to sound like a brilliant idea, so he curled up tight against Ianto and let himself drift off to the sound of rain hitting the tin roof of the caravan.


End file.
